Maple Leafs, Marner divorce finally official as winger traded to Golden Knights
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Mitch Marner’s tenure in Toronto is done.
Following weeks of speculation that the Vegas Golden Knights were eventually going to become Marner’s new team, that turned into a reality late on Monday afternoon with reports of a trade between Toronto and Vegas.
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Maple Leafs, Marner divorce finally official as winger traded to Golden Knights Back to video
On Tuesday morning, the Maple Leafs and Golden Knights officially announced the trade, which includes an eight-year contract for Marner with an average annual value of $12 million US.
The Leafs get centre Nicolas Roy in the deal.
The Golden Knights said Marner will wear No. 93, as he did during his stellar junior career with the London Knights.
Had Marner made it to the start of free agency on Tuesday at noon ET, he would have had teams lined up at his door. And had the deal not worked out with Vegas before the market opened — and if Marner did not go on to sign with the Golden Knights anyway — next up would have been the Los Angeles Kings, as interest between Marner and the club was mutual.
Marner departs the Leafs as the fifth-highest scorer in franchise history with 741 points, trailing only Mats Sundin, Darryl Sittler, Dave Keon and Borje Salming. Marner’s 520 assists are fourth-most in team history, behind Salming, Sundin and Sittler.
The playoffs, as we all know, were a different story. With 63 points in 70 career Stanley Cup games in Toronto, Marner was unable to make a significant difference in the post-season and was a part of just two series wins during his nine seasons with the Leafs.
What will Marner’s legacy be with his hometown team? It’s fairly simple. One of the more cerebral players in NHL, Marner couldn’t translate his regular-season wizardry into playoff dominance. No matter what happens in Vegas, that’s what Marner will be remembered for in Toronto once his playing days have come to an end.
Of course, Marner had company, as captain Auston Matthews and William Nylander have had similar shortfalls in the playoffs.
With Marner gone, and even though John Tavares was re-signed on Friday, we can put “The Core Four” moniker to bed.
This brings us to the DNA change within the Leafs that Treliving continues to seek this off-season.
Subtracting Marner might go toward achieving that goal to a degree, but with Brad Marchand staying in Florida with the Panthers, a great opportunity for Treliving to implement a shift in the players’ thinking has passed by. The Leafs would have liked to have added Marchand to their forward mix for reasons we imagine are fairly clear.
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For now, as far as newcomers go, it’s Roy and winger Matias Maccelli, who was acquired earlier on Monday from the Utah Mammoth. The retention on Monday of winger Steven Lorentz on a three-year pact with an AAV of $1.35 million was good, as it keeps an enthusiastic, competitive Cup winner in the fold.
As Treliving said last week, the Leafs don’t play on July 2. Whether it’s through free agency or via trade, the GM will have plenty of time this summer to further re-shape the team.
With the Marner/Roy trade official, Treliving has approximately $5.8 million US available under the salary cap, per puckpedia.com.
Roy, 28, has two years remaining on his contract with an average annual value of $3 million. Roy would slot in as the Leafs’ third-line centre if he is acquired. The Cup winner in 2023 with Vegas had 31 points (15 goals and 16 assists) in 71 games last season.
One Vegas player who had been linked to the Leafs in a possible trade, defenceman Nicolas Hague, was no longer available.
Late on Sunday, Vegas traded Hague and a conditional 2027 third-round draft pick to the Nashville Predators for defenceman Jeremy Lauzon and centre Colton Sissons.
Hague, who was a restricted free agent, signed a four-year contract with the Predators with an average annual value of $5.5 million.
KNIES-LY DONE
The Leafs also on Tuesday morning officially announced the signing of forward Matthew Knies to a six-year extension with an AAV of $7.75 million.
It’s another tidy piece of good business on the part of Treliving, coming two days after John Tavares was signed to a four-year pact with an AAV of $4.38 million. Tavares probably would have fetched close to double that had he hit the open market.
Knies took significant steps in 2024-25 to becoming one of the premier power forwards in the NHL, scoring 29 goals and recording 29 assists in 78 games.
If Knies, who turns 23 in October, continues his rise, the contract will mature nicely in the Leafs’ favour as the salary cap increases. To be honest, even if Knies levels out and averages 30 goals a season, it’s still going to be good deal for the club. No one thinks that his production last season will be the pinnacle of Knies’ NHL career.
As Treliving goes about trying to shore up some forward spots this summer, he doesn’t have to worry about the left side on the Leafs’ top line with Matthews. Knies has the spot cemented.
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